Welcome to the April 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Family Recipes

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants are sharing their recipes, their stories, their pictures, and their memories.

When it comes to “saving,” it is a toss up as to whether I prefer to save money or to save time. As a busy mama on a tight budget, both are crucial to successfully managing day-to-day life. When it comes to taking care of my home and family, I also like to incorporate as many natural and “green” alternatives as possible.

In my quest to do all of the above, I created a pretty amazing 3-in-1 liquid “soap.” I hesitate to use the word soap, as most people associate soap with foamy, bubbly suds. This recipe is definitely NOT a sudsy soap, but no one in my family minds. In fact, they much prefer how clean it gets everything I use it for.

This recipe is my go-to dishwasher liquid detergent, dish washing soap, and hand soap. One container, three uses. It does not get more green than that. Plus, there are no harsh chemicals, and it really does get everything squeaky clean.

Here is my secret super easy recipe. I hope you make it, use it, and love it!

Ingredients

Directions

If making citrus water, simply add peels (or a whole cut up piece of citrus of your choice) to 8 cups room temperature water. You can use more than one type of citrus at a time. I happen to love lemon and lime together).

Let the mixture sit in a sunny, warm spot for 24 hours then strain out the peels/citrus.

Grate the bar soap with a cheese grater (freezing the soap beforehand may make this easier).

Heat the water in a large pot until it is warm but not boiling.

Take the pot off the stove, add the soap gratings and essential oil, if using, and mix well with a wire whisk or an immersion blender.

Let sit in the pot, lightly covered, for 8 to 12 hours.

If the mixture is not completely uniform, mix it well again and let it sit for another 8 to 12 hours.

Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/judahm/3662407275/

To Use

Pour your soap into a mason jar, old wine bottle, or any other glass container. If you have an old hand soap dispenser, fill that up so you can have hand soap in an easier to access container.

Before using as a dish soap or dishwasher detergent, give the jar a gentle shake.

Fill your detergent cup per the manufacturer’s instructions and run the dishwasher.

If you have a particularly greasy load, add 1/2 cup white vinegar.

For washing dishes by hand, use as needed. Remember – it won’t make suds!

The Best Banana Muffin Recipe (Gluten Free & Vegan) — Dionna of Code Name: Mama’s adventures in gluten free baking have not been 100% successful. But today she is guest posting at Fine and Fair to share a banana muffin recipe that will knock your socks off!

Do you want to know a secret? — SRB at Little Chicken Nuggets lets go of her mac and cheese recipe, a comfort food favourite for friends and family for years.

Creating Our Own Family Recipes — Emily at S.A.H.M. i AM shares how she’s trying to create meals that her girls will want to pass down to their own children some day.

Vranameer Chicken: A Family Recipe — Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares a recipe that reminds her of childhood and more specifically, of her mother. It’s a South African take on sweet and sour chicken and what it lacks in healthy it makes up for in tantalising to the taste buds.

All-Purpose Crock Pot Pork — Crunchy Con Mommy‘s simple “recipe” for cooking perfect pork in the crock pot is for whatever mood her family is in!

Family Rules: A Recipe for Harmony — Cooped-up kids + winter weather + frazzled parents can all blend together into a recipe for disaster. Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares what brought back the peace in her house.

Favorite Healthy Family Recipes — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares her family’s healthy eating experiences along with links to free printable vegetarian recipes that her family has created with love.

Grandma’s Banana Bread — Megan at The Boho Mama has early and fond memories of her grandma’s banana bread. It’s love in a loaf!

Family Comfort Food — Jorje of Momma Jorje shares a recipe handed down that moms have made for their kids, for regular meals as well as to comfort.

That’s really cool and sounds easy! The challenge will be transitioning my family away from suds. My boys in particular love to stick their hands in any residual suds in the sink (which kind of grosses me out, ha ha). But I’ve long been considering making our own soap, so thanks for the recipe!

I’ve been using a natural soap from Frontier, and it was hard getting away from suds. It was hard believing that my dishes were truly clean without bubbles!!
I’ll put this on my list of recipes to try the next time I run out

Wow! I’ve never seen this and it looks great! I make my own laundry soap and had several failed attempts at powdered dishwasher detergent (did not get the dishes clean!) but haven’t tried a liquid soap and now really want to! I assume if you get a bar soap that has oils (like the coconut oil soap) it isn’t too drying on your hands, too, right? 3 in one sounds AWESOME!

I just got into making my own dish soap and did have a question. For the recipe I used recently I had a bar of castile soap grated, baking soda, washing soda & lemon juice. I’m assuming the citrus water is similar in concept to the lemon juice. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the final product was much thicker than I thought it would be (it’s almost a paste-like consistency) and it seems to make the dishes greasy. Seeing as you’re using coconut oil as a base, does it turn out greasy or oily? I don’t have a problem with “no suds”.. I have a hard time grasping the concept that an oil-based cleaner/soap isn’t going to be greasy.

Wow! I’ve never seen this and it looks great! I make my own laundry soap and had several failed attempts at powdered dishwasher detergent (did not get the dishes clean!) but haven’t tried a liquid soap and now really want to! I assume if you get a bar soap that has oils (like the coconut oil soap) it isn’t too drying on your hands, too, right? 3 in one sounds AWESOME!

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